Weak pound helps bring record tally of tourists

The weak pound and record numbers of Chinese tourists helped drive strong growth in overseas visits to Britain in the first three months of this year.

According to Visit Britain, visits grew by almost 10 per cent to a new high of 8.3 million in the first quarter, while spending rose 15.6 per cent to a record £4.4 billion helped by the weak pound. The British Museum and Tate Modern along with Stonehenge — a designated World Heritage site — were popular attractions.

The number of Chinese visitors jumped 27 per cent to 54,000, while visits from America grew by 16 per cent to 641,000. Office for National Statistics figures show the number of leisure visitors in the quarter jumped by 21.1 per cent but…